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<title>𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙 by Adrenalineshots, sonshineandshowers, TheFibreWitch</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26505115">𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenalineshots/pseuds/Adrenalineshots'>Adrenalineshots</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers'>sonshineandshowers</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFibreWitch/pseuds/TheFibreWitch'>TheFibreWitch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Domino 🁡 [38]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Prodigal Son (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Case Fic, Death Topics, Depression, Digital Art, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hallucinations, Harassment, Health Emergency, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Mental Health Issues, Metafiction, Murder Mystery, Nightmares, Surrealism, Trauma, Unreliable Narrator, Video, a lot of really strange stuff that happens in altered states of consciousness, anxiousness, reader-driven</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:21:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26505115</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenalineshots/pseuds/Adrenalineshots, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFibreWitch/pseuds/TheFibreWitch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Selecting 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙 from the bookshelf, Malcolm travels through his own mind.</p><p>Read this story at: <a href="https://www.thedominostory.com/#hansel-and-gretel">https://www.thedominostory.com/#hansel-and-gretel</a></p><p>This book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64577434#workskin">Preface</a> or <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588537#workskin">Introduction</a>, please head there first.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Domino 🁡 [38]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Domino 🁡, Prodigal Son Big Bang 2020 - Saturday Posts</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑙</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/685390">Hansel and Gretel</a> by the Brothers Grimm.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64577434#workskin">Preface</a> or <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588537#workskin">Introduction</a>, please head there first.</p><p>Betaed by the wonderful <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jameena/">Jameena</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/">MissScorp</a>, and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/">ProcrastinatingSab</a>.</p><p>Credit to the creators and their works that inspired and were referenced in this work:<br/><b>— Inspiration: </b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansel_and_Gretel">Hansel and Gretel</a> - the Brothers Grimm<br/><b>— Cover Song: </b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgLIYAOC-OE">Candy Jail</a> - Silver Jews</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <table>
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<td><a href="https://www.thedominostory.com/images/full/hansel-and-gretel.jpg"></a></td>
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</table><p>The air is part sugar, vaporized crystals that scent the oxygen on every inhale. It's like gorging candy without the judgement, calories, or sick stomach that go with it.</p><p>Dani leads Malcolm to rows of dispensers arranged by color. Gummy bears, sharks, penguins, raspberries, ropes, and dozens of other treats make up the blue section, the first that he sees. His eyes spot yellow next, drawn to things that remind him of Sunshine.</p><p>"There's three floors, Bright," she says. "I know you can find something you like."</p><p>On a good day, a good week, a good <em>month</em>, probably. A five minute exercise and they'd be walking out of Dylan's Candy Bar with whatever assortment first struck his fancy and a mixed bag of treats for everyone.</p><p>Today, nothing seems appealing. It's the biggest candy store he's ever been in, he even thinks maybe Ainsley dragged him in once before, but the draw isn't there. The saccharine air bothers his stomach, makes his head pound a little bit more.</p><p>"I'm gonna look around a bit," he tells her, spotting a way to escape the crowd on the first floor.</p><p>"Do your thing — I'm gonna look, too," she replies.</p><p>His feet carry him downstairs to every wrapped candy that has likely ever been made, plus candy-branded apparel. Before the trip, he didn't realize a candy onesie was an option on the table, but now he wonders what his mother would think of such a thing after Christmas dinner. He keeps moving before the people that fill the space can look at him weird.</p><p>Every flavor of Jelly Belly is available on one wall, but none of them say 'eat me.' There isn't a single bar he wants to unwrap and nip with his teeth, savoring chocolate melting on his tongue until it drips down his throat. The longer he spends looking over candies, the more he wants to throw up. Seeing a door to the bathroom, he escapes inside and locks himself in a stall.</p><p>There isn't enough in his stomach to make his display of vomit as spectacular as the rainbows throughout the candy store. He stays on his knees, spitting up a little, dry heaves wrenching every ounce of fight out of him until his head rests against the stall wall.</p><p>He knows Dani dragged him out after work because he had been moping. A dip in his mental health after a series of Dr. Whitly themed night terrors had translated into his physical health declining over the month between lack of eating and migraines. Or that's what he figures they are because he hasn't gone to the doctor to find out for sure.</p><p>Whatever it all is, it's led to him sitting on the bathroom floor in a candy store when his friend wanted to do something nice for him. The pain in his head subsides to a duller annoyance, and he pushes himself to his feet to wash up in the sink. He doesn't look great, but he passes for human, at least.</p><p>Exiting back to the floor, he passes three and six-foot-long candy bars and makes his way back to the stairs. Instead of ascending, he sits a few stairs up and looks at the steps below him. There are candies embedded in the acrylic, fossilized goodies even those thousands of years down the road won't be able to eat.</p><p>He is one of those Sour Patch Kids, his outer shell coated in acrylic to disguise the unpleasant taste. Lick at the blue not found in nature and get an extra dash of carcinogens. Once it hardens, his limbs are immobilized, and no matter how much he struggles in a night terror, he can't crack out. Forever stuck in the floor for everyone to trample on.</p><p>People walk by him, ignoring his presence, legs and feet sometimes knocking into him. Is that what being buried feels like? People walking over his corpse? Does he even want to be buried? Probably not.</p><p>"Hey," Dani says, shins resting against the back of his head. "You good?"</p><p>"Should I donate my body to science?" he asks her.</p><p>"Maybe wait 'til you're dead first."</p><p>Another person knocks into him, but he barely moves.</p><p>"Do you wanna talk about it?"</p><p>"I don't want any candy today. I'm sorry." He sighs, sure he's insulting her.</p><p>"It's fine, Bright. Not what I'm asking."</p><p>"Gil gave me a wrapped green candy when he met me." Rubbed the back of his neck, captured his attention by making him feel like everything would be okay, even just for a moment. Did the man always have candy in his pocket? Or was something about that day special? He had never found out.</p><p>"Been a long time, huh?"</p><p>"Some days, not long enough."</p><p>"This about your dad?" Her voice is quiet, nonthreatening, carries a little bit of a click of her tongue at the end as she decides whether the whole question can be released.</p><p>"Isn't it always?" He gets hit in the head again by a passerby.</p><p>"Wanna get out of here?"</p><p>"Can you pick something for you? And something for Gil? I have a headache,” he admits. “I should've told you."</p><p>"Chocolate covered espresso beans?"</p><p>"Whatever you think is right." He hands her his credit card over his shoulder. "Gonna go sit outside."</p><p>He sways a little standing, and a person passing by gives him a glare like he's arrived drunk to a place frequented by children. "You good getting out there?" she asks, steadying his arm at the railing.</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>The air outside is a little bit cooler, the difference refreshing. There aren't any benches, so he leans against the building, closing his eyes and imagining how many people pass. Thoughts of death dwindle to a whisper, his father's presence fading into the background for a moment.</p><p>"Got the beans and some bee candies — green," Dani says. "And some mixed bag for the team. There's licorice." She holds the bag open to him and the smell wafts up, bothering his stomach.</p><p>"No, thanks."</p><p>She hands his card back, and he returns it to his wallet. They leave the candy palace behind them, heading for her car so she can take him home.</p><p>— ◌◯◌ —</p>
<p></p><div class="note">
  <p>
    <a id="note" name="note"></a>
  </p>
  <p>Dani sets her small collection of daisies on the windowsill between a panda and a gigantic flower arrangement that barely balances on the ledge. They’re more for the man that occupies the bedside than the bed. She got JT to take Gil for a walk to the cafeteria under the guise of catching up on the case to at least get some food into him. Jessica stands outside the door, her back to them, yet still keeping a watch over her son.</p>
  <p>Bright’s color gives oatmeal a run for its money, his face more ashen than Dani’s ever seen it, even when she visited him in the hospital the last time. She’s seen every shade of purple on the man between bruises and sleepless nights, yet lack of most color is more frightening. It’ll haunt her thoughts even after they’ve left for the precinct.</p>
  <p>“JT misses you,” Dani says, perching on the arm of the chair in the corner. “Can you believe that?”</p>
  <p>She searches her mind for something else to say, yet only comes up with, “This is silly,” then rests her head against her hand, her whole body balancing in a precarious lean.</p>
  <p>“You can talk,” Jessica tells her, her heels clicking back into the room. Dani shifts into a posture that might be slightly more presentable. “Sometimes that can be good.”</p>
  <p>“He usually has more things to say,” Dani admits with a small smirk that the two women share.</p>
  <p>“My son likes to get himself into trouble, so I’ve learned to keep up both sides of the conversation.” Jessica turns toward the bed. “Malcolm, it’s time for dinner,” she pauses and turns back to Dani. “See, no complaints.”</p>
  <p>“Did you do that to Gil too?”</p>
  <p>“Practiced telling him I wrecked his car a half dozen times before he could hear it.”</p>
  <p>Recalling Gil’s brooding after Bright totaled the Le Mans, Dani expects the practice was warranted to soften the blow. She looks around the room, the space bland beyond their offerings on the windowsill. “Is there anything we can bring you two?”</p>
  <p>“Find out what happened to my son,” Jessica says firmly.</p>
  <p>Dani nods and shifts her weight again, finding sitting up straight on the arm isn’t very comfortable.</p>
  <p>“You’re a good friend,” Jessica says, squeezing her hand.</p>
  <p>Dani nods and takes the compliment even though she thinks that a good friend would have known he was in trouble faster. A good friend would have noticed he was missing. A good friend… wouldn’t be going back to work. Without chatter to take up the dead air, the precinct is the only place that evokes a sense of belonging.</p>
  <p>A nurse comes to check in with Bright before the men return, so Dani excuses herself to the waiting room and pulls out her phone. <em>Hey, Sree</em>, she texts her good friend.</p>
  <p><em>Too early for drunk or dates</em>, Sria teases.</p>
  <p>
    <em>Never too early.</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>What’s up?</em>
  </p>
  <p><em>Tell me something funny</em>. Her friend’s shenanigans would be a welcome relief to break the tension.</p>
  <p><em>Schnapps shit outside Mrs. Trembley’s door again</em>.</p>
  <p><em>That vile beast!</em> they both parrot at the same time, a slight chuckle emerging from Dani.</p>
  <p><em>I’m pretty sure Wes does it on purpose now</em>, Sria comments.</p>
  <p><em>Of course. Only way to get his digs in.</em> Sria had amassed a wealth of stories of her neighbor who notoriously called in noise complaints for things as small as music or conversation in the middle of the day. <em>Something else?</em></p>
  <p><em>Call me Zoya, ‘cause I’ve now destroyed more pieces than I’ve made this month,</em> Sria pokes fun at herself. Dani doesn’t comment. <em>You okay? Need me to come over with box wine? Or is it a six-pack kind of day?</em></p>
  <p>
    <em>Work. Movie in the next couple weeks, maybe?</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Your couch, my cooking.</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Deal. Gotta go, but send me some pictures of what you’re working on? Save a few from your wrath?</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>I do it with love.</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Uh-huh.</em>
  </p>
  <p>Dani pockets her phone, feeling a little less alone, a little more capable to return to the task at hand as soon as the men return.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading. Head back to the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588570#workskin">Bookshelf</a> to pick another book. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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